I was prescribed Vytorin in late 2006 for cholesterol. 2-3 weeks after beginning a daily regimen, my muscles all over my body began aching and cramping constantly. Extremely painful and debilitating. I went to my doctor immediately, but they were clueless. In January 2008 when the pharmaceutical company finally released their test information that they had finished in 2006 (the delay was because they were making about 5 billion a year on the drug and the drug did not work as advertised; why tell anyone if you can get away with it?), and my pharmacist informed me that he thought he now knew what was causing my pain. I quit taking it immediately and my upper body began almost immediately to resolve, but my lower body never has and I can no longer work as I am in pain 24/7. Eventually I was sent to a pain management physician who has sent me to other specialists and so far they've not been able to do anything to help except prescribe me pain meds to mitigate. I have been taking Norco and oxycodone every day to attempt to mitigate the pain. Sometimes it's effective, other times it's not so effective. However, the Florida governor recently has been after "pill mills" and has been scaring the pain management physicians and threatening them with loss of license. I have what my primary care physician calls a high metabolism for certain drugs especially pain killers. To describe, I had a colonoscopy go bad and had to be taken to an ER whereupon they gave me a shot of dilaudid. The nurse returned, left and came back with a physician telling him he had given me enough dilaudid to knock over a horse and I was just sitting up having a conversation with the person who took me to the hospital. They told me I should been almost unconscious. Another time, for a kidney stone, I was given dilaudid again. The doctor noted it wasn't effective and gave me another. It helped some, but I was still able to sit up and have an intelligent, lucid conversation with him. On another note, in lieu of another prescription, I have to drink up to 100 ounces of water and gatorade a day to keep from getting orthostatic hypotension where my blood pressure drops.
Anyway, I was recently asked to give a urine sample at my pain management physician's office and last Friday, June 22, 2011, they informed me the test showed up negative for oxycodone, inferring that I was breaking our agreement and putting me in a situation where they may not prescribe it for me anymore. It's like they were almost accusing me of being a criminal. I haven't slept except for a couple of hours the past 3 days. Since the pain management physician was not present, another physician gave me just enough for 14 days at which time I will have to go back to see my regular physician, pay extra and perhaps the full amount that she charges as the insurance company may not pay for two visits in a month, and also pay for additional pills (basically doubling my normal monthly payment which I can't really afford as I am not independently wealthy like most of us), that is if I get any at all.
Why would the oxycodone (15mg a night cut in two for two 7.5mg doses as my body burns through 15mg as quickly as 7.5mg; I also take Norco 4 times a day, so in all I have to take meds every 4 hours to realize some sort of continuous pain relief; they've tried Oxycontin, a time released pain killer, but it was like taking a sugar pill, it did nothing for my pain) not show up in a urine drug test if I have been taking it every night for almost five years???